Mildred (Washington) Willis (1697 - 1747)

Born 1697 in Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania, Virginia

Ancestors

Wife of Roger Gregory — married 1718 in Westmoreland, Virginia

Wife of Henry Willis Sr — married 23 Jan 1734 in Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania, Virginia

Descendants

Died 5 Sep 1747 at about age 50 in Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania, Virginia

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Mildred (Washington) Willis resided in the Southern Colonies in North America before 1776. Join: US Southern Colonies Project Discuss: southern_colonies

Biography

Mildred Warner Washington, aunt of George Washington, was born 1697, in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. ^[1] She was the daughter of Lawrence Washington and Mildred Warner.^[2] She died on September 5, 1747, in Virginia, at the age of 51, and was buried in Fredericksburg, Virginia^[1].

Marriage and Issue

According to a 1792 family genealogy authored by George Washington himself and included within the George Washington Papers of the National Archives, Mildred married twice to men with whom she had children.^[2]:

Some online sources suggest that these were her second and third marriages, and that she had a first husband with whom she did not have any children. Assuming that the stories about a first husband are correct, the following should reflect the correct marriage and issue for Mildred Washington:

Mildred married at least two and possibly three times. According to some family histories, she married first, around 1716, John Lewis of Gloucester County. John died on April 7, 1718. This marriage did not produce any children.^[3]

According to the George Washington Papers, Mildred's first marriage was to ____ Gregory.^[2] Other sources identify this husband as Roger Gregory of Stratton Major Parish, King and Queen County in 1718; some give dates for this marriage as early as 1714.^[4][5]

Children of Mildred Washington and Roger Gregory include:

• Frances Gregory m Col. Francis Thornton^[2]
• Mildred Gregory m Col. John Thornton; 1740^[2][4]
• Elizabeth Gregory m Reuben Thornton^[2][6]

After Roger Gregory's death in 1730 or 1731^[7], she then married, twice widowed, Henry Willis in the year of 1733/34^[2][8].

Children of Mildred Washington and Henry Willis:

• Lewis Willis^[2]

Research Notes

Confusion Concerning Marriages

It would appear that there is a lot confusion in many family trees found online involving Henry Willis, his three wives, the wives' previous marriages, and the children. An article by John A. Washington, "More about Mildred,"^[9] suggests that, "forty or fifty years ago there was considerable misunderstanding and confusion," and that "it was all cleared up more than forty years ago, and any confusion can be traced to early, incorrect data."

Other Notes

1. Roger Gregory Jr., so far, I am unable to find proof that Mildred and Roger Gregory had a son.

2. Ann Willis born 1734/5. Some sources list a daughter named Ann for Mildred Washington by Henry Willis born 30 January 1734 or 1735. This source has an Ann Lee - not Ann Willis - as born 30 Jan. 1734 (transcription of bible information provided to the editor). In introducing the list, the editor's notes says, in part: "It has been supposed that Anne Willis, who married Greene, was a full sister of Col. Lewis Willis, but this record appears to prove the contrary. There were also two John Willises living at the same time. It was not unusual at this time to give two children the same name." The two John Willises were his sons by his first wife and his second.

3. Isabella a.k.a. Mary Isabella^[10] could not have been the daughter of Mildred Washington and Henry Willis. Isabella or Mary Isabella was born June 10th, 1733. Henry Willis and Mildred Washington married January 5th, 1734^[10]. Another point of contention is Mildred Lewis' date of death and the birth date of Isabella or Mary Isabella Willis. Henry Willis could not have married Mildred Washington if Mildred Lewis died in 1732 and Isabella being born in 1733.

4. The consensus in many genealogical sources all agree that In November, 1733, Mildred Washinton's cousin, Mildred Lewis (widow Brown Howell) Willis died, and Henry Willis, immediately asked her become his third wife. They were wed 2 months after the passing of Mildred Lewis.

5. 1752 Calendar Change: In terms of the years the events taking place, this could have bearing on errors relating to dates. In accordance with the 1750 act of Parliament, England and its colonies changed calendars in 1752. Before this change takes place, the last day of the year was March 24 and previous to the New Year Day of March 25th were counted as the previous year.

Notes from Findagrave.com:^[1]

Her Husbands (There were three)

1) John Lewis, of Gloucester County – married 1716. he died on April 7, 1718, leaving Mildred a childless widow of twenty. Mildred's husband, John Lewis, was the son of Edward Lewis and his wife Susannah.

2) Roger Gregory, only a few months after John Lewis' death she remarried. Her second husband was of Stratton Major Parish, King and Queen County. His death was in 1730 or 1731,

3) Henry Willis, In November, 1733, her thrice-married cousin, Mildred Lewis Brown Howell Willis died, and the widower, Henry Willis, immediately asked our Mildred Gregory to become his third wife. Henry Willis died in 1740, and Mildred did not marry again, but survived until 1747, when she died at the age of 50. Children: (There were 4)

• Roger Gregory - father of Frances, Mildred, Elizabeth
• Lewis Willis at the end of 1734 Mildred had her fourth and last child, who some think was named in memory of her first childless, husband.

BURIAL
Willis Hill Cemetery
Maryes Heights, Fredericksburg City, Virginia

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Find A Grave: Memorial #65169251, Mildred Washington Willis (1697-1747), Willis Hill Cemetery, Maryes Heights, Fredericksburg City, Virginia; no gravestone image. Attached "Willis Hill Cemetery Tombstone Key" does not list Mildred.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7} National Archives, “Enclosure: Washington Genealogy, 2 May 1792,” Founders Online, (https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/05-10-02-0211-0002 : accessed 20 Apr 2022); citing Robert F. Haggard and Mark A. Mastromarino, eds., The Papers of George Washington, Presidential Series, vol. 10, 1 March 1792 – 15 August 1792, (Charlottesville, Va.: University of Virginia Press, 2002), pp. 334–338.
3. ↑ U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 Detail: Source number: 245.000; Source type: Electronic Database; Number of Pages: 1; Submitter Code: LJV Url: http://search.ancestry.com/collections/7836/records/1286912
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Elizabeth Petty Bentley, indexer, Virginia Marriage Records: From the Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, the William and Mary College Quarterly, and Tyler's Quarterly, (Baltimore, MD: Genealogy Publishing Co., Inc., 1984), 552 (Spotsylvania marriage license issued, 28 Oct 1740, John Thorton & Mildred Gregory) & 554 (same, 1740, John Thorton & "Mildred Gregory, [daughter of Roger G.];" images, Ancestry.com, "Virginia, Marriage Records, 1700-1850," database with images (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/3143/ : accessed 20 Apr 2022).
5. ↑ U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 Detail: Source number: 273.000; Source type: Electronic Database; Number of Pages: 1; Submitter Code: LJV Url: http://search.ancestry.com/collections/7836/records/1286913
6. ↑ P. 215. Virginia cousins : a study of the ancestry and posterity of John Goode of Whitby, a Virginia colonist of the seventeenth century, with notes upon related families, a key to southern genealogy, and a history of the English surname Gode, Goad, Goode, or Good from 1148 to 1887.by Goode, G. Brown (George Brown), 1851-1896, Brock, R. A. (Robert Alonzo), 1839-1914.https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/417950?availability=Family%20History%20Library
7. ↑ 163 of pages 158-169, Tithables of Lancaster County, Va., 1654, with Notes W. G. S.The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography Vol. 5, No. 2 (Oct., 1897), pp. 158-169
8. ↑ U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 Detail: Source number: 247.000; Source type: Electronic Database; Number of Pages: 1; Submitter Code: LJV Url: http://search.ancestry.com/collections/7836/records/1286914
9. ↑ John A. Washington, "More About Mildred and the Three Wives of Henry Willis," undated; available from Internet Archive Wayback Machine here; no sources cited.
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1} 39 of pages 39-47, Lewis Family: Lyon G. Tyler, The William and Mary Quarterly Vol. 11, No. 1 (Jul., 1902), pp. 39-47

Acknowledgments

• WikiTree profile Washington-417 created through the import of dawnadams.ged on Nov 19, 2011 by Dawn Adams. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Dawn and others.
• [1] Thornton 1300-1917 by Mrs. Lola Jane Carr-Bates also a genealogy done by Susan Reed Thornton